Protective an d air feeding front tor



May 9, 1950 R. c. JAYE 2,506,643

PROTECTIVE AND AIR FEEDING FRONT FOR DOMESTIC HEATING FURNACES Filed Dec. 1, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Eur/75210 5i- Jaye May 9, 1950 R. c. JAYE PROTECTIVE AND AIR FEEDING FRONT FOR DOMESTIC HEATING FURNACES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 1, 1948 525275270 51 Jay;

SAW-4 Patented May 9, 195( UNITED STATES PATENT O F Fl C-E.

rR'oTEo'rrvE AND AIR FEEDING FRONT FOR DOMESTIC HEATING FURNACES Richard 'C. Jaye, 'Watertown, Wis., assignor "to Syncroma'tic Corporation, Watertown, Wis., a

corporation of Wisconsin Application December 1, 1948, Serial No. 62,831

7 Claims. (01. 110-475) This invention relates to furnaces of the type used for residential heating and-refers more .particularly to doors for such 'fur'naces.

Residential basements are finding increasing use as part-time living space, being used, for-cisample, as recreation roomaprivate bars and home workshops. Hence all of the equipment necessarily located in the basement should present a pleasing appearance.

It is, of course, essential to have the furnace by means of which a house is heated located in its basement, and frequently the location of the furnace is'such (by reason of its size and thedictates of its function) that it must be retained within the "basement 'areaor room intended to be devoted to recreational purposes.

It is therefore of great importance that the furnace not only present a pleasing'appearance but also that safety features be incorporated into its design so that persons accidentally coming into contact with it will not be burned or otherwise injured.

Heretofore the fire doors and ash pit doors of furnaces have been particularly objectionable in this respect, since they tend to become excessively heated and thus presents-a serious safety hazard. Moreover, because of such excessive heating it is impossible to 'keep these doors in good condition from the standpoint of their appearance. Paint tends to .peel and chip off of them and particle's of soot and ash accumulating on them soontend to rust and pit them and otherwise mar their appearance.

With these and other objections to previous types of furnace doors in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide a furnace front which is unusually attractive in appearance and which will remain so throughout the life of the furnace.

Another and very important object of this inverition resides in the provision of a furnace door having an outer surface which will at all times remain relatively cool so that accidental contact with the door will not resul tfin serious burns.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of improved means for preheating secondary combustion air and for conducting such preheated air to the combustion zone of a residential furnace to thereby improve the chiciency of the furnace.

With the above and other obj e'cts in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts 'substantialiy as hereinafter described and rnore particularly 2 defined by the appended claims, it being understood that'such changes'in the precise embodi ment of the 'hereindisclosed invention may be made 'as'com'e'within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment "of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far' devised for the practical application of the apr-inciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of 'a residential type furnace equipped with fire and ash pitdoors made in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the furnace of Figure 1 with thedoors in open position, a portion of the baflle plate beingcut away to illustrate detail;

FigureB is a sectional view through the fire and ash pit doors of this invention taken'along the line 3-& in Figure '1';

Figirre l is a'oross'se'ctionalview-of the fire door of this inventiontaken along the line t-4 in Figure 3';

Figure 5 is'a cross sectional view of the ash pit door of this invention taken'along the line 5-5 in Figure 3; and

Figure 6-is a sectional view of the ash pit door, similar to Figure 3 but showing the draft gate in its open position.

Referring now more particularly to the ac- 'companyin'g'drawingsin'which like numerals designate like parts throughout the-several views, the numeral 5 designates-generally a furnace upon the front of which has been installed a fire door B and an pit door 7 "embodying the principles of this invention.

Asi's usual, the furnace h'as "a fire pot in which combustion-occurs and to which access maybe had through a fire door opening 9 whip-his closed by the fire door '6.

Beneath the fire pot and separated therefrom by g rates (not shown) is an "ash fpit l 5 accessible through an opening it and closed the ash pit door 1. The usual aperture 3 in the ash pit door 'ad'm'its combustion air to the ash pit, the aperture being closed by a draft gate 4 which is hinged to the ash pit door as at 2, tothu's regulate the rate and intensity -of combustion in a well known manner.

*A series of ports 12 in the front wall of the furnace body, between the are seer a and the ash pit opening i i, admit secondary cornbustion air to th'efire pot. A griil 53,-s1id3ibie iate rally behind the ports I 2 as in means of a knob M, is provided with 'a series of apertures which may be brought into and out of register with the ports to regulate the supply of secondary air to the fire pot, admission of air, of course, being greatest when the apertures in the grill I3 register with the ports [2.

The fire pot and ash pit apertures are provided with frames [5 and [6 respectively, and are respectively closed by a cast iron fire door I! and a cast iron ash pit door l8. Each of these doors has a finished rear surface is adapted to abut a finished front edge surface on its frame to cooperate therewith in providing a substantially airtight seal.

A pair of brackets 22 extends from one side edge of each of the door frames and serves as one member of a pair of hinges whereby each of the doors is pivotally mounted for opening and closing motion, the other hinge members comprising a pair of similar brackets 23 extending from one side edge of each of the cast iron doors and integral therewith. The bracket members are pivotally connected by means of hinge pins 24.

As is customary, the cast iron fire door 6 is provided with a cast iron liner 25 which serves as a radiant shield to reflect a portion of the heat of combustion back into the fire pot. A rearwardly extending pyramidal pad 26 on the rear surface of the door cooperates with a similar pad 27 extending forwardly from the front surface of the liner to hold the latter in position, a :pin 28 passing through aligned holes in the two pads serving to detachably hold them together.

A substantially fiat baffle plate 29, preferably of steel sheet material, is secured to the fire door 6 by means hereinafter described. It is spaced from the outer or front surface of the cast iron door and provides additional radiant heat shielding as wellas serving as a deflector in a manner about to be explained.

The baflie plate 29 is wider than the cast iron fire door l1, its width being at least equal to and preferably slightly greater than that of the frame [5, and it extends above the door at least to the top of said frame and below the door to the bottom of the secondary combustion air ports l2. The marginal side edge portions 30 of the baffle are bent rearwardly at right angles toward the front of the furnace, and the marginal upper edge portion 3| is bent backwardly at an obtuse angle to the rear face of the bafile.

The bafiie plate is connected to the front of the fire door by means of sheet metal screws v32 having their heads at the rear of the door and their shanks passing through holes in forwardly extending pads 33 and received in aligned holes in the bafile. The pads 33; cast integrally with the front surface of the door, serve as spacers to hold the baffle plate a small distance from the front surface of the 'door and parallel thereto.

A substantially pan-shaped fire door cover 34 encloses the baffle plate 29 and the cast iron fire dOOr I! and comprises the outer, visible fire door front. This cover is preferably formed as a sheet metal stamping having a flat, rectangular front 35 and shallow rearwardly extending sides 36 and 35, top 3'! and bottom 38. The sides 36 and 36 abut the front wall of "the furnace and overlie the rearwardly extending sides 30 of the baflle, to which they are spot welded, as at 39, to thus support the baffle with its front surface spaced slightly from the front 35 of the cover. The top portions 3! of the cover also abut the front wall of the furnace, as seen best in Figure 3.

Notch-like recesses in the side 36 of the cover provide clearance for the hinge brackets draft gate 4 to swing 22 and 23, a portion of each of these recesses being formed by striking a horizontal ear 4i outwardly from the side 36. The ears ti overlie the hinge brackets 23 and are secured by means of the hinge pins 2:! to hingedly mount the flre door cover to the furnace body coaxially with the cast iron fire door l1. p

A U-shaped handle 45 is secured to the front of the fire door cover by means of screws 46 which extend through the cover from the rear thereof and are threaded into tapped holes in the legs of the handle. In order to transmit door opening and closing thrust from the handle 45 to the cast iron fire door, to thus cause the cover to swing with the door and thereby in effect mount it on the door, an upright substantially Z-shaped channel 61 is connected between the cover and the fire door. As seen best in Figure 4, one of the flanges :38 of the channel is spot welded to the rear surface of the cover, substantially in line with the handle, while its other flange d9 is so disposed as to receive a pair of the sheet metal screws 32 which connect the bafiie 29 to the door. It will be seen that the cover itself conceals all of the means whereby it and the baffle are connected with the fire door.

The portion of the rearwardlyextending bottom 38 of the fire door cover adjacent to the front wall of the furnace isnotched, as at 62 to a depth nearly equal to the spacing of the baflle 29 from the front wall of the furnace, and secondary combustion air is adapted to flow through the notch 42 to enter the space behind the baffle and to be conducted thereby into the ports l2. In the front face of the cover, near the bottom thereof, are louvers 43 through which cooling air is adapted to enter the space between the front of the cover and the baffle plate, whence it passes upwardly behind the cover to cool the same, passing out through another set of louvers 44 in the top side 37 of the cover. It will be seen that the rearwardly angled upper edge portion 3! of the baffle plate facilitates the flow of such cooling air out of the louvers 44. 7

An ash pit door cover 48, similar .to the fire door cover, surrounds the ash pit door l8, extending upwardly substantiallyto the bottom of the fire door cover and downwardly well beyond the bottom of the ash pit door substantially to the bottom of the furnace, the width-of the ash pit door cover being equal to that of the fire door cover. The ash pit door cover has a substantially flat front 50 which lies substantially in the plane of the front of the fire door cover, and has an aperture 5! at its center of a size to enable the upwardly and outwardly therethrough. 1 r h The ash pit door may be opened and closed by means of a substantially U-shaped handle 52, preferably identical'to the handleon'the fire door cover. The handle 52 is secured to'theash pit door cover by means of screws 53'passing through the cover from the rearf-thereof and received in tapped holes in the legsof thehandle. 1 Door opening and closing thrust is also trans mitted from the handle 52 to the ash pit door by means of an upright Z-channel Ed'between the ash pit door and its cover and substantially in line with the handle 52. The channell'a i has one of its flanges 55 secured to the inner surface of the front of the ash pit door cover,-'as by means of spot welding, while its other flange 56 is secured to the ash pit door by means of sheet metal screws 51 passing from the rear of the door forwardly through spacer pads 58 cast integrally with the door and extending forwardly from the front surface thereof. The Z -c'-han'nel thus secures "the edge of the cover remote from the hinges to the corresponding edge of the ash pit door.

'Recesses '59 in the hinge side ofthe ash pit door cover provide clearance for the hinge brackets 22 and 23 of the ash pit door, being similar to the recesses all in the fire door cover, and similar ears 6!! are bent outwardly from the hinge side of the ash pit door cover to overlie the brackets '23 and to be secured by means of the hinge pins 2 5 to thus cooperate with the 'Z-channel it in retaining the ash pit-door cover in position.

A small pan-shaped cover 6|, secured to the draft gate has rearwardly extending side, top and bottom fianges "normally abutting the front of the ash pit door cover to hold the front 82 of the gate cover spaced from the front of the draft gate and to close the aperture 5| in the front of line of the gate cover, as by spot welding, and its a other flange secured to the front of the draft gate by means of sheet metal screws 54. Pairs of later-ally spaced pads 65, integral with the draft gate and extending forwardly from the front surface thereof, brace the edges of the draft gate cover and hold the same spaced from the draft gate and parallel thereto.

A series of louvers 66 near the bottom of the a h pit door cover admits air to the space between the door cover and the ash pit door. It will be seen that air so admitted will rise as it is heated by the ash pit door and part of such air will pass outwardly through the draft gate aperture 5!, assuming that the draft gate is closed, and thence into the space between the draft gate and the draft gate cover. The remainder of the air entering the louvers 66 will rise upwardly and fiow around the sides of the ash pit door. Continuing to rise, such air will flow to an aperture 51 at the top of the ash pit door cover, which aperture is aligned with the aperture 42 at the bottom of the fire door cover so that the heated air will be conducted into the area between the baffle 29 and the front wall of the furnace, where it will enter the secondary combustion air ports 52. Thus all of the secondary combustion air fed to the fire pot will be preheated by its passage across the ash pit door and that po tion of the furnace body which lies below the secondary air intake, resulting in greater efficiency of the furnace.

If the draft door is open, the main flow of air entering the louvers 56 will be upwardly and around the sides of the ash pit door to the opening 6! in the top of the ash pit-door cover. In either event, it will be seen that the flow of secondary combustion air upwardly inside the ash pit door cover effectively cools the door and its covers.

From the foregoing description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that this invention provides a pair of furnace doors comprising a substantially complete furnace front, which doors are unusually attractive in appearance and will at all times remain cool so that accidental contact with the furnace front will not result in serious burns. It will also be seen that the furnace doors of this invention cooperate to provide a means for conducting preheated secondary combustion air to the furnace cornb'ustio' chamber "to errors more eiiicient combustion.

'I claim as my invention is:

1'. In combination with a furnace of the type having an ash pit door hingedly connected to the body or the furnace and through which access be had to the ash pit and a draft gate hingedly mounted on said ash pit door to con trol the volume of co mbustion air entering the ash p'it-z a substantially pan 'like cover secured to said ash pit door, said cover having a front surface of a size to cover the entire ash pit deer and rearwardly extending sides the edges of which abut the bodyci the furnace when the 'pit door is closed, the front surface of said cover bein spaced from the front of the ash pit door so that said cover cooperates with the ash pit door and with the body of the furnace to define a duct, and said cover having apertures at its top and bottom so that air may enter the bot tom aperture :and flow upwardly behind the cover and out through the aperture at the top of the cover to thus keep the :cover cool, the front surface of said cover also having an aperture through which said draft gate is adapted to swing; and a substantially pan-shaped draft gate cover secured to said draft gate to swing therewith and to close said aperture in the front surface of said ash pit cover 2. In combination with a furnace of the type having a fire door hingedly connected to the front of the furnace body and through which access may be had to the interior of the furnace, as ash pit door below said fire door and through which access may be had to the ash pit, and an intake port for secondary combustion air in the front of the furnace body between said doors: a

:pan-like ash pit door cover fixed to and obvering said ash p'it door and having a front surface spaced from the front of said ash pit door and rearwardly extending sides, the edges of which are adapted to abut the body of the furnace when the door is closed, said cover having an air inlet aperture therein at its bottom portion and an air outlet aperture in its top side, and said cover cooperating with the furnace body and the ash pit door to define a duct whereby secondary combustion air entering through said aperture at the bottom of the ash pit door cover will be directed upwardly over the ash pit door to be preheated thereby; a substantially pan-like fire door cover fixed to and covering said fire door and said secondary combustion air intake port, said fir e door cover having a front surface spaced from the front surface of the fire door and rearwardly extending sides, the edges of which are adapted to abut the body of said furpace when the fire door is closed, the lower side of said fire door cover being adjacent to the upper side of the ash pit door cover and having an aperture therein aligning with the aperture in the top of the pit door cover; and abafile on said fire door, extending substantiall to the bottom of the fire-door cover'and, when the fire door is closed, spaced from that portion of the front of the furnace body in which said intake port is located so that preheated secondary coinbustion air passing upwardly through said aligned apertures in the bottom of the fire door cover and the top of the ash pit door cover will enter said space behind the bafiie and flow into said secondary combustion air intake port 3. In combination with a furnace of the type having a fire door hingedly connected to the front of the furnace body and an intake port for secondary combustion air below said fire door:

a substantially pan-shaped cover fixed .to and covering said fire door and said intake port, said cover having a front substantially parallel to the front of the fire door and spaced therefrom and rearwardly extending sides the edges of which abut the body portion of the furnace, and said cover having apertures in its bottom portion and an opening adjacent to the top thereof; and a substantially flat bailie plate secured to said fire door and extending downwardly therefrom, said bafile plate being spaced from the body of the furnace to cooperate therewith in defining a duct whereby seccndary combustion air, preheated by passing over a portion of the furnace below said fire door cover and entering said duct through one of said apertures in the bottom portion of said cover, is guided into said intake port; said bafile plate also being spaced from the front of said fire door cover so that it cooperates with said cover in defining a second duct whereby cooling air entering the cover through another of said apertures therein is guided upwardly along the fire door to said opening at the top of the cover to keep the cover cool.

4. In combination with a furnace door mounted on a furnace body by means of pin connected hinge parts on the body and the door, said door being adapted to close an aperture through which access may be had to the interior of the furnace: a substantially pan-shaped cover of a size and shape to completely cover the front of the door, said cover having a substantially flat front and rearwardly extending sides adapted to abut the body of the furnace; and means mounting said cover on the furnace door in fixed relation'to said door and with the front of the cover spaced from the front of the door and substantially parallel thereto comprising ears on the side of the cover adjacent to said hinges each engaging one of said hinge parts, said ears having apertures through which the hinge pinsproject to connect one side of the cover to the hinged side of the door and to enable swinging motion of the cover on the door hinges, and means adjacent to the side of the door remote from said hinges for securing said cover to the door.

5. The cover of claim 4 further characterized by the fact that said means for securing the cover to the door comprises an upright channel having one of its flanges bonded to the rear surface of the front of the cover and its other flange secured to the door by means of screws passed into the channel from behind the door.

6. In a furnace the combination of: a front wall having a pair of apertures disposed one above the other and adapted to provide access to the fire pot and ash pit of the furnace and having a secondary combustion air intake port in a portion of the wall lying between said apertures; a door hinged to the front wall adsing a pair of substantially pan-like covers, one

. enclosing the front of each of said doors and fixed thereto, substantially meeting one another between said apertures and below said intake port, and having openings therein aligning with one another at their substantially meeting portions, the; lowermost cover having an aperture therein near the bottom thereof and the upper cover having apertures therein adjacent to its top and bottom so that air entering the interior of the lowermost cover through said aperture near the bottom thereof may rise upwardly inside the lower cover to be preheated and transferred through said aligning openings to the upper cover where it is made available as secondary combustion air to said intake port; and means inside the upper cover for substantially trapping the air transferred thereinto from the lower cover and for defining a passage for cooling air entering the upper cover through one of its apertures near the bottomthereof so that such air may flow upwardly in front of the fire door to issue from the top of said cover through said aperture adjacent to the top of the upper c0ver.-

'7. In a furnace'the combination of: a front wall having upper and lower openings therein which provide access to the fire pot and ash pit respectively of the furnace, and having a port in a portion lying between said openings through which secondary'combustion air may enter the fire pot; a door hingedly connected to said front wall adjacent to one side of each of said openings and closing the same; and cover means for shielding the doors and for effecting pre-heating of the secondary combustion air which enters said port, said cover means including a pan-like cover for each door, larger than the door, said covers having side walls projecting rearwardly toward said front wall with their edges abutting the same to completely cover said doors, one of said covers extending over the secondary combustion air port, and said covers having openings in their tops and bottoms through which airmay enter the lower portion of each cover for circulation upwardly over the door covered thereby and exit from the top of the cover.

RICHARD C. JAYE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Number Name Date 312,578 Nightengale Feb. 1'7, 1885 985,336 Fredericks Feb. 28, 1911 1,275,650 Borge Aug. 13, 1918 7 1,618,346 Lartz j Feb. 22, 1927 1,864,333 Aldrich June 21, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country' 7 Date 332,339 7 Great Britain July 24, 1930 

